Monthly Wrap-up - May and Signs

Joining Tom for the SIGNS meme. Check his blog to see other signs from around the world.

Friday 2nd - we attended the Annual General Meeting of the Perth Codfish Association, held at the Portuguese Club. After the meeting we had dinner at the club. Jose bought Portuguese custard tarts for the table, from the bar.

                          

Saturday 3rd - voting for the Federal election.

The Labor party won with a majority, giving the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a second term in office, which had not happened since 2004 - a big win for Australian values, fairness and opportunities for all.

The opposition leader Peter Dutton not only lost the election, but lost his own seat in Parliament with his "Trump" like ideas.

After voting I had coffee with my colleague Sue, who had already finished work, enjoying a holiday a few weeks before her retirement at the end of June.

Jose and I picked olives from our small tree to marinate. They will be covered in water, which gets changed daily for 1 month.

Tuesday 6th - I had a day off work and together with Jose we joined our friends W & L for lunch at the Subiaco Hotel pub. After that I accompanied Jose to a specialist appointment not far away.

rainbow on the way home

Friday 9th - a very full day that started by picking up our friends W & L and driving to the Wanneroo Showgrounds (in the northern suburbs) to attend the Caravan & 4 Wheel drive Show.

On our return while Jose sat with L watching TV, W and I walked around Subiaco's main streets to admire the "Subi Blooms" exhibition for Mother's day weekend (9-11 May).

And these were the temperatures for the week. Quite warm for the beginning of Winter (1st May to 31st July)

The sun just setting with us on the way home crossing the Swan River, the city buildings on left

Then it was time to go home and get ready for my Italian friend and neighbour Maria's birthday, with a dinner at the Italian club in Fremantle. The following day she would be going to hospital for an operation.

Saturday 10th - Mother's day dinner with our son at Yuki Japanese Restaurant.

Flowers, chocolates & home-made jam for Mother's day

Tuesday 13th -  Took Jose to the airport for his flight to to Lisbon via Doha. He would be away 6 weeks, to start his treatment for dental implants, which are 1/3 of the price of the quote he got from our local dentist. On his way home he will stay 2 weeks with Karina and Thomas in Doha.

Friday 16th - My second visit to Murdoch Hospital, this time to pick up my friend Maria, but the specialist wasn't happy with the progress and she had to stay a few days longer.

Great signs in the hospital walls

The hospital gardens were pretty and serene, with ducks and bird song.

That evening I had dinner with Monica, an ex-blogger who I met in Perth many years ago. She now lives in her home country of Brazil. Her children live here and she travels to Perth every year to visit them. This time she came to meet her newborn grandchild. We had seafood at "The Rusty Old Boat Fish & Chips in the suburb of Guildford. And they had a mural :)

Sunday 18th - Portuguese elections for which we voted by post a few weeks earlier.

Wednesday 21st - Appointment with my rheumatologist - there's been no change with the medication I had started on in mid February. He reduced the dosage and added another medication and was hoping for an improvement to my hand in a couple of months.

Friday 23rd - After my yearly dental check-up (all well) I drove to inner city suburb of Subiaco to meet with my friend W for coffee. After our get-together, I drove to the nearby suburb of  Mount Lawley, for lunch with our friend Vina, to celebrate her 91st the following day.

Saturday 24th - Olive picking with another person from our Community Harvest group, for our second batch of olive oil - we picked just about 60kgs, as we had an amazing tree. Another two people had picked the day before, so in total we got 100kgs!

Tuesday 27th - The Community Harvest members got together for dinner at the house one of the members, each taking a share plate.

Thursday 29th - Sunrise at 6,59am, as seen from my bedroom window, while preparing to go to work. (I usually leave home at 7,20 to be at work at 7,45, when I open the clinic, although the Drs only start at 8,30am).

Friday 30th - Meeting of the committee of the Codfish Academy at Coogee Boatshed restaurant. Due to noise after making it impossible to talk, after dinner we went to one of member's houses within walking distance, to discuss events planned for the year.

Saturday 31st - Portuguese Women's Association, 6th anniversary dinner - "Ties of friendship", at South Fremantle Football Club.

Catering supplied by Benny's Bar & Cafe, in Fremantle - one of the young owners is Portuguese - the food is always very taste and well presented.

Portuguese tarts (pasteis de nata) and the anniversary cake were ordered from a home-baker, and they were delicious.

Entertainment provided by a Brazilian singer Marcio Mendes, who sang songs from the iconic 84 years old Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos, and by the very talented Portuguese/Australian singer Catarina Viegas Schuett.

Birds in the garden:

Sun setting in my street, seen from my car mirror:

Not a great photo, but full moon on the 12th of May, from my house

Monday Murals - Women

I love murals and street art. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  Once you start looking you will find murals everywhere.  The "Monday Mural" meme goes live on Monday at 12,01AM, Perth,Western Australian time. Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters. Looking forward to your mural finds this week.

Thanks Sami 

More murals from the central region town of Viseu in Portugal, from my visit in March 2025.

Painted by Lula Goce, a Spanish artist, for "Tons de Primavera 2018" (Spring Colours 2018), a project which was curated by the artist Frederico Draw. It can be found in Rua (street) Serrado 1A.

She also painted "Lady in Pink" in Doha, which I posted in January this year.

The next mural was painted by Portuguese artist Frederico Draw  for "Tons de Primavera 2015" (Spring Colours 2015), and can be seen on the corner of Rua Sra. da Piedade 49.

The building looked abandoned but the mural was still in reasonable shape.

Monday Murals - Girl with camellias

I love murals and street art. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  Once you start looking you will find murals everywhere.  The "Monday Mural" meme goes live on Monday at 12,01AM, Perth,Western Australian time. Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters. Looking forward to your mural finds this week.

Thanks Sami 

And it's now time for the murals from my visit to Portugal in March 2025.

The murals today are from Viseu, a town in the center of Portugal, just half an hour drive from where we used to live before we moved to Australia. It's actually among my favourite towns in Portugal, the other one being Aveiro.

Painted by Ricardo Romero, for "Tons da Primavera" (Spring colours) in July 2021. It's a reinterpretation of the artwork "Girl with camellias" painted in 1912, by local artist José de Almeida e Silva (1864-1945).

It can be found in the center of the town in an area called "Rossio".

Original painted from 1912 "Girl with camellias"

Here you can see the mural in the distance with a wall with azulejos (tiles) in the foreground, by Joaquim Francisco Lopes (1886-1956) which was inaugurated in 1931. This wall is an iconic tourist attraction and has been classified as a "Monument of Municipal interest". 

Painted by João Samina, also known as Samina, this mural was painted in 2018 for the "Tons da Primavera" (Spring Tones), and features a portrait of the writer Aquilino Ribeiro (1885-1963), who was born in the area. Can be found at Travessa das Escadinhas da Se, just off the historical street, Rua Direita (Straight street, which is not straight at all!).

"Situs Inversus - Coração Apertado" (Situs inversus - tight chest), part of the 

4th edition of the Jardins Efémeros festival in 2014, and was created by Liliana Rodrigues, with the collaboration of João Bastos, André Gavino, André Grilo and Rúben Rocha.

Can be found on a lateral wall at Nr. 43 Rua Alexandre Herculano, one of the city's most important arteries.

** "Situs inversus" -  is a rare congenital condition where the organs of the thorax and abdomen are positioned in a mirror-image orientation compared to where they would normally be found. It is a heart that appears on a lateral wall."

This looks like a Banksy style mural, also from Viseu. Not sure of the artist, just thought it would go well with the heart mural above.

Monday Murals - The Fire Station Museum - 100 days of blockade

I love murals and street art. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  Once you start looking you will find murals everywhere.  The "Monday Mural" meme goes live on Monday at 12,01AM, Perth,Western Australian time. Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters. Looking forward to your mural finds this week.  Thanks Sami

And it appears this will be my last post (the 19th!) with murals from Qatar.

I was amazed at all the art I came across and there were many more murals I didn't see. Karina tells me she's found more, so looking forward to our next visit :)

                                 

                                                  * * * * * * * * * * * * 

The "100 Days of Blockade" mural project in Doha, Qatar, was an initiative by Qatar Museums to use art as a means of expressing solidarity with the country during the 2017 diplomatic and economic blockade. There were a couple of murals painted with this theme, and here are two I found at the FireStation Museum.

Painted in 2017 by Serbian born, Qatar based artist Dimitrije Bugarski, this striking mural located on the former fire training tower in the courtyard, featuring a split portrait of Qatar's current Emir, Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani and his father the former Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. 

On another wall of the Fire Station Museum is a mural painted by Qatari artist Mubarak Al Malik showing a clenched fist breaking through barbed wire.

The blockade (embargo) against Qatar began in June 2017 and ended in January 2021. Back then Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Senegal, Comoros, Djibouti, Jordan...cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of sponsoring terrorism - by blocking its use of land, sea and air space over those countries.

Monthly Wrap-Up - April & Signs

Joining Tom for his SIGNS meme. Check his blog for other signs from around the world!

Wednesday 2nd - with 2 colleagues retiring at the end of June, we started interviewing people for the jobs during this week.

Saturday 5th - went with Dr S to the French Movie Festival - "The stolen painting" at Luna Leederville. Inspired by a true story, we really enjoyed the movie.

Thursday 10th - We had a meeting with our financial advisor to confirm our plans to retire this year - Jose in May, as his latest project - the Thornlie to Cockburn train line - was coming to an end and he didn't want to start a new one, and me in September. And of course to get any last minute advice before the end of the financial year on June 30th.

That evening, Jose and I attended a free workshop provided by the City of Melville council - "Grow a verge garden". Very informative and we got some inspiration and ideas to revamp our front garden some time in the near future.

Friday 11th - I visited Grace (former Perth Daily blogger) and had lunch with her. We hadn't seen each other for ages so it was nice to catch-up. Later in the afternoon on my way home, I went to pay a quick visit to a friend who is now living in a private room in a Aged care home.

We sat in her balcony having a cup of tea and this kookaburra landed on the balcony. My friend says they are frequent visitors, probably residing in the park behind the Aged care home.

               

Saturday 12th - Farewell dinner for a Portuguese couple - Jose and Fatima, who have decided to return to Portugal to be closer to their ageing parents. Dinner with a few of their friends was at a Mediterranean restaurant - "Our Table" in the suburb of Bedford.

Seafood Risotto

Sunday 13th - on a 26C day Autumn day, Jose and I went to Fremantle to visit the Sculptures at Bathers Beach.

This car was the most popular exhibit

View of Bathers Beach

Then we enjoyed a snack of a bucket of prawns and sweet potato chips at a seafront restaurant.

                    

On the way to the car we stopped for photos at various Fremantle iconic statues.

The fishermen with their fish baskets and Bon Scott, AC/DC vocalist

Bella - bronze statue by Greg James

Wednesday 16th -  went to pick olives for about 2 hours with another lady from our "Community Harvest" group. All together, 5 of us picked 103kgs this week, which we then had processed into olive oil.

After that went for an eye-test as I had experience "eye floaters" for the first time the day before, which was a bit scary. Nothing wrong, just "part of ageing" I was told by the very young optometrist. Oh golly, the ailments are piling up, how much fun!!

Then off to work at 1pm!

Thursday 17th - Jose and I drove to Waroona, a country town about 1h20 south west of Perth, where we spent the long weekend Easter break. We stayed at the Drakesbrook hotel.  Very basic room , 70's decor, although the mattress was reasonably comfortable and the room was clean. It was attached to one of the town's pubs, where we had dinner when we arrived that night - fish and chips for me and pizza for Jose. 

 

Friday 18th - after a bland bacon and eggs breakfast at one of the cafes we drove to  Waroona Dam, originally built in 1931. You can swim and practice water sports there, but it was basically empty.

We carried on south to the town of Yarloop, which was established in 1894, with timber and farming - (dairy and fruit) being the mainstays of the local economy.

In January 2016, a bushfire burnt 69000ha, destroyed more than 160 homes and caused two deaths. The town has about 400 residents - but we actually didn't see a single soul.

Metal statues in a local park

As we sat in the car a long train roared past. A few ancient cars in a shed

Onto Harvey next, a town known in Western Australia for the dairy industry, beef and oranges. The town hosts a major agricultural show in April each year. It has about 2800 residents.

A cement chair with "painted stamps" and Welcome to Harvey sign


The Big Orange at Harvey

We visited the Harvey Dam, a popular tourist destination with picnic facilities and historical information. You can cross the dam's wall on foot.

   We found a little gazebo and sat there having a snack enjoying the views.

A quick stop to photograph cow art at Brunswick Junction.

A mural of a cow and flowers made with mosaics

Then a short drive to Bunbury, a small port city 175km (109ml) south of Perth where we had coffee and cake.

A short walk around the seaside, although it was a bit windy. It's a town full of street art too, but I have photographed lots of it in earlier visits although I still found 2 or 3 murals I hadn't seen before!

The town's main attraction is a metal statue 5mt high, 6mt wide installed in Koombana Bay, in February 2019, called "Wardandi Boodja" - it portrays an Aboriginal man, and is the work of Western Australian regional artists Nicole and Alex Mickle.

Our route from Waroona to Bunbury

Saturday 19th - breakfast at another Waroona cafe, then a walk around the town to see the many pieces of art.

This cow in front of the Tourist office gets dressed up in various outfit through the year.

A lot of totem poles decorated with words, with various designs and with crochet.

A beautiful park in the centre of town with art and murals, barbecues, kids play areas...

The red tailed black cockatoo, which abound in the area (we didn't see any), 

shown here as a wooden sculpture.

Lunch at "The Rec" Hotel/Pub. Food was nice and the atmosphere too.

A 1933 building on the main road in Waroona

Chicken wings for Jose and Nachos con carne for me - In the park across the pub mask hung on branches of trees

Next we walked along the main road to visit the "Magic Barn", a pink house, with a fairy garden opened to the public for free. There's a lovely patio with tables and chairs, swings for the kids, cubbies, toys and trikes they kids can use while you have a coffee, an ice-cream or a toasted sandwich. They also have guinea pigs which delight the kids.

The whole town of Waroona has many "fairies" painted all over which the kids can discover while walking around.

 

After we walked back to our car and drove to Drakesbrook Winery, 15 minutes away.

There was a nice deck over a pond, ducks and guinea fowls roaming around.

A lot of people buying wines and the a pretty and friendly Bengal cat.

We just walked around the property and left.

 

Then we drove west towards the sea to Preston Beach.

A stop at Miami Bakehouse for Jose to have a coffee and for me to check out the Kang Art - 16 life sized kangaroos painted by local West Australian artists, displayed in an outdoor gallery.

Then onto Myalup Beach, just down the road.

The sun was setting on our return to the hotel

Sunday 20th - A half an hour drive north to Mandurah. Jose had booked lunch at an Indian restaurant at the marina. Mandurah is know for the dolphins that can be seen frollicking in the bay.

It was a beautiful Autumn day, and we went for a walk around the marina after lunch.

Big things in Mandurah - dolphins, crab, lobster and Chinese lucky cat

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the charming country town of Pinjarra to go buy a couple snacks for dinner, as we didn't feel like eating much.

Again I discovered lots of murals on the main street. We walked to the river and crossed the suspension bridge over the Murray River....well I couldn't go past the middle as it rocked too much and I felt uncomfortable with that.

The bridge was inaugurated in 1985 and provides a pedestrian link from the east side residential area to the town centre.

There is a 1,2km heritage walking trail along the main street to visit historic buildings that played an important role in the early settlement of Pinjarra.

The Court house below is one of the buildings. Although the current edifice was built in 1935, the site was used for court and justice services in the first court house which dated from 1864.

 

Monday 21st - Checked out of the hotel and had breakfast at the local Pinjarra bakery - known for their pies, but too early for pies! We had croissants and coffee, hot chocolate for me. Then we drove home.

                


Monday 28th - A new staff member - J - that had been interviewed at the beginning of the month started working at the clinic.

She's familiar with our medical software, but of course needs to become familiar with the ins and outs of the different doctors.

The only drawback is she lives 70km away, taking over 1 hour to drive each way, which I find it might eventually take a toll! I certainly wouldn't do it, I can imagine I would be filling up the petrol tank every second day!